Enjoy an illustrated talk at the museum or at your location* from some of our wonderful and knowledgeable volunteers:
History:
- The Poor Child’s Friend: Joseph Lancaster’s Educational Revolution.
The truly remarkable story of a poor boy from the slums of Southwark who sparked an ‘Educational Revolution’ which brought schooling within reach of millions of children around the world. - Bringing Dead Street to Life: The British Schools in Hitchin.
How the British Schools brought hope to the children of the working poor in the yards and alleys around Hitchin’s infamous ‘Dead Street’. - Talking in Class: An Oral History of the British Schools in Hitchin.
The sights, sounds and smells of school life in the early c20th in the words of the pupils and teachers of the British Schools in Hitchin. - Life and Legacy: The Remarkable Jill E. Grey.
Code-breaker, collector, curator, campaigner. Discover the fascinating life and enduring legacy of a true heritage heroine. - A School at War: The Hitchin British Schools 1914-1919
How the Great War affected one small school in one small town. Charting the trials and tribulations of running a school during wartime and the sacrifices made by its former pupils.
Travel - looking beyond what the tourist brochures say, refleting on personal experiences of these wonderful locations:
- Japan - Land of contrasts: Homes, gardens, transport, festivals, religion, history, food, costume, entertainment
- Enigmatic Myanmar: The many faces of Burma, a stunningly beautiful country with a sad and turbulent history.
- Dubai and Uluru: The two places can be presented as two separate talksor as a comparison, looking at how and why two desert communities have developed so differently.
- Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam three beautiful countries, their history, traditions, religion, food, dance and how outsiders have influenced their lives.
- Sovereign Hill: a reconstruction of a 19th century gold mining town near Melbourne which has a special link with the British Schools Museum in Hitchin. The talk starts with a short section on the British Schools and then shows how the Australian one not only covers education but the whole
town community with buildings, working shops, theatres, restaurants, industries, a gold mine, horses, costumed characters …...
As well as travel talks on Malta, Norway, South America, and The American National Parks Service!
Talks can be booked via the Museum or as part of a group visit.
* Talks outside of the Museum subject to locality restrictions. Please get in touch to discuss.
